• Home
  • News
  • Obituaries
  • Police & Fire
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Business
  • Real Estate
  • Advertise
  • Town
    • Westborough
    • Shrewsbury
    • Northborough
    • Marlborough
    • Hudson
    • Southborough
    • Grafton
  • Print Edition
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
Thursday, February 2, 2023
  • Events
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Community Advocate news and events Community Advocate
  • Shrewsbury
  • Westborough
  • Northborough
  • Southborough
  • Grafton
  • Marlborough/Hudson Edition
  • Home
  • News
  • Obituaries
  • Police & Fire
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Business
  • Real Estate
  • Advertise
  • Town
    • Westborough
    • Shrewsbury
    • Northborough
    • Marlborough
    • Hudson
    • Southborough
    • Grafton
  • Print Edition
How can the Community Advocate help you promote your business?
Advertising Info
Suggest a Story
Free Subscription
Home Byline Stories - News Shrewsbury schools garden project to benefit students and community
  • Byline Stories - News
  • Education
  • Region
  • Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury schools garden project to benefit students and community

By
Community Advocate
-
June 2, 2017
147
Facebook
Twitter
Email

    By Nance Ebert, Contributing Writer

     

    Shrewsbury schools garden project to benefit students and community
    Photo/Submitted

    Shrewsbury – There are models across the country where classroom learning extends outdoors. The students, in a very hands-on approach, get to implement and support what is presented within the confines of the building and establish a very meaningful connection.

    This year, the Home Depot in Shrewsbury approved a grant for almost $30,000 to build gardens at each public school in town. While a couple of the schools may have an existing area with garden beds, the plan is to extend these areas to encompass additional areas of the curriculum and academic standards from the Massachusetts Frameworks. Planning, measuring, researching, composting, weather, animal life cycles, nutrition and more are all part of this next phase and the Shrewsbury community could not be more excited.

    “A Farm to School Program is important because it empowers a new generation of children to make healthy eating choices, learn to grow food, and connect at local farms by using an approach which integrates the classroom, cafeteria and the community,” said Bryan Moss, founder of Sustainable Shrewsbury and a parent of children at the Walter J. Paton Elementary and Oak Middle schools. “School gardens provide the real-life context for learning across all disciplines – math, science, art, language, arts, foreign languages and more. By engaging students in hands-on opportunities that establish meaningful connections to the curriculum, the gardens will help children connect the dots by showing them where their food comes from and how their food choices impact their bodies, the environment and their communities at large.”

    “Parker Road Preschool had already partnered with Home Depot and the entire school community has maintained the garden for four years now,” said School Nurse Kristin Stewich. “Watering, weeding and planting are done by all staff and students as needed”

    Parker has a garden committee that includes Stewich, Jenn Vengel, Maria Grimshaw, Donna Crowley, Dominic Ruggiere, Chris Tighe (Home Depot associate), and Scott Selmecki (Home Depot manager), she noted.

    One mission of the “farm to table” initiative is the fact that many simply want clean food in the schools. Food that is grown in these gardens promotes local food served in the cafeterias and there is a direct understanding about the food and its origin with those eating it.

    Students and teachers have been busy discussing what they want to grow, creating maps, researching ecosystems, sustainability and physical features of growing spaces and more. There is also much discussion about ways to make each garden space accommodate and be accessible to everyone. The Shrewsbury community will also benefit tremendously by this project.

     

    • TAGS
    • Chris Tighe (Home Depot associate)
    • Dominic Ruggiere
    • Donna Crowley
    • Farm to School Program
    • Home Depot
    • Jenn Vengel
    • Maria Grimshaw
    • Nance Ebert
    • School Nurse Kristin Stewich
    • Scott Selmecki (Home Depot manager)
    • shrewsbury mass
    • Shrewsbury schools garden project to benefit students and community
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Email
      Previous articleGrafton defeats Assabet to advance in playoffs
      Next articleHudson: 2017 Wood Park Summer Concerts
      Community Advocate

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Education

      Shrewsbury School Committee approves changes to school start times

      Featured News

      Shrewsbury begins tax title foreclosure of Empire Dry Cleaning site

      Featured News

      Saint John’s alum returns as head football coach

      Education

      Scholarship applications open for Northborough seniors

      Education

      Grafton High DECA earns THRIVE status

      Education

      ARHS’ unified program receives national recognition

      Follow Us

      Sign Up For Our Newsletter

      [mc4wp_form id=”241018″]

      RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

      Obituaries

      Janet J. Okerberg, 87, of Shrewsbury

      Community Advocate - February 2, 2023
      0
      Obituaries

      Lawrence M. LaChance, 66, of Grafton

      Community Advocate - February 2, 2023
      0
      Education

      Shrewsbury School Committee approves changes to school start times

      Evan Walsh - February 2, 2023
      0
      Hudson

      Select Board approves promotion of police sergeant, lieutenant

      Laura Hayes - February 2, 2023
      0

      POPULAR

      Janet J. Okerberg

      Janet J. Okerberg, 87, of Shrewsbury

      February 2, 2023
      Lawrence M. LaChance

      Lawrence M. LaChance, 66, of Grafton

      February 2, 2023

      Shrewsbury School Committee approves changes to school start times

      February 2, 2023

      Select Board approves promotion of police sergeant, lieutenant

      February 2, 2023
      Mohamed Moselhy

      Mohamed Moselhy, 62, of Shrewsbury

      February 1, 2023
      community advocate logo
      ABOUT US

      The Community Advocate is an independently owned newspaper with a legacy of over 40 years serving the communities of Westborough, Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough and Grafton. It is also the number-one circulated paper in those communities. We cover a wide variety of breaking news, municipal issues, human interest features and sports stories.

      For Advertising Inquiries:
      [email protected]

      For editorial inquiries:
      [email protected]

      Contact us: [email protected]
      FOLLOW US
      • Events
      • Contact us
      • Advertise
      © Community Advocate. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy